Fish'in Hole Hoppin', 12/29/21

 Debbie said she felt the best today, that she has in over 6 months. She _LOVES_ to go fishing, but since her stamina isn't up to par yet, we decided to do a bit of local bank fishing. We always love hopping from place to place when we do that, so we set out to check out a few spots. It was overcast, temps above 70 degrees, and intermittently sprinkling rain. Unseasonably warm, for sure...but the water is cold. I didn't measure the temp, but it's cold.

The first place we went to was a public spot under and around the bridge where 231 crosses Little River just south of Zebulon (and just off hwy 96). We climbed down the rip rap and fished a bit, but not much happening there today. Debbie picked up a blue gill on a beetle spin, and I was skunked :-) We stayed about 30 minutes, rotated through several types of bait, and decided to move on.

 

Next, we stopped at a place we called "Fish Foods" and were horrified. We hadn't been there this year... IT WAS GONE!! It was located across from US Foods in Zebulon, had been there for many decades. They have cut the dam, drained it, cut all the trees, and are filling it in to build more houses. Just what we need...more houses everywhere. Progress. I guess... Well, we moved on...

 

Next, we stopped at Moccasin Creek where hwy 97 crosses it, just east of Zebulon. We climbed down the rip rap, and fished a while. Rotating through baits, Debbie picked up a bass on a 5" stick bait, weightless and weedless. The water is cold, they're not chasing bait, so slow and stop were the best bait presentations. We stayed about 30 minutes and decided to move on. 

After that, we popped into a private place we call the Secret Pond. We didn't go to fish, but since we were close and had not been in over a year, we wanted to check the path and make sure we could get the Jon boat trailer back down there. We talked to a couple of people who were fishing, threw bait a few minutes, and left. The path is good, so we'll be back with the Jon boat, soon!

We were  close to another private spot we call "Dale's Place", because it belongs to a friend named Dale :-) It was about 45 minutes before dark, so we decided to stop in. BINGO! This place was hopping. I was throwing a 6" Cabela's stick bait, Debbie was using a 5" Yumdinger stick bait. They weren't chasing anything, but slow sink, 30 seconds of still, and bump it a few inches...that was what they wanted. We caught several bass from about 1-1/2 lbs to one Debbie caught at 3lb 14oz. We fished until dark, sometimes we each had one on at the same time. Great evening! Here's a few more pics...

3 lbs, 14 oz!

231, 12-26-19

Debbie and I headed out to do a little "river hopping" the day after Christmas. First, we stopped down at the bridge on hwy 231 that crosses over Little River. Here's a few pics...

Snagged this guy on a Beetle Spin with a Shadpole grub, using my micro rig.

Debbie's been having fun with a little crappie dive bait on her Micro rig. Seems to catch everything :-)

We always enjoy this spot, and have caught a lot of fish here from time to time!

231, 10/10/19

Debbie and I went over to 231 today for a bit, to enjoy the weather of overcast and drizzle we had, and see if the fish wanted to come out and play. Sure enough, they did :-) Here's a few pics...

Debbie caught this Black Crappie on a Beetle Spin / Smokey Shad & her micro rig

 

She caught this Chain Pickerel on a 5" Yum Dinger (Watermelon & Pearl), rigged weightless and weedless...

Debbie hit this nice LMB on a 5" Yum Dinger (Watermelon & Pearl), rigged weightless and weedless...

Afterwards, we decided to head over to Moccasin Creek for a bit.

Little River @ 231, 9/24/19

After helping a friend on a boat project all day, Debbie need to run to town for a few minutes. On the way she said "I need a fishing fix", hahahahah. So, we diverted the trip to the bridge over Little River, at hwy 231 (south of Zebulon). We got in a little fishing before dark. Debbie hit a beautiful 3lb LMB on a 5" YumDinger in pearl & watermellon, along with a few others we caught. Here's a few pics from the evening...

3lbs

Black Crappie

Bluegill

LMB on a beetlespin :-)

231, 3/10/19

The time changed today, YIPEE!! After church and other things, Debbie and I headed out to do some fishing about 3pm today. We first headed up to Little River on hwy 231, and the Black Crappie were hitting! Debbie caught 6 of those on her micro rig with a #0 gold Beetle Spin, 1/32oz white crappie jig head w/red eye, and fitted with a Strike King Smokey Shad shadpole grub. They were tearing it up! 

I used a similar setup and picked up 3 Black Crappie. I was having fun learning how to use a weightless rigged watermelon 4" Ribit frog with 4/O hook. Works pretty good, handles nice in grass and structure. Only had one hit on it, but was mostly playing with it to see how it worked. Looking forward to throwing that this spring and summer!

Here's a few pics...

231, 2/15/19

After spending a bit of time on Moccasin Creek, Debbie and I headed south to the hwy 231 bridge on Little River. Boy, our luck was different there! Debbie fell into a nest of Black Crappie and was on a roll there for a while, and also caught a blugill in the mix. She was using her Micro setup w/4lb mono, a #0 gold beetle spin rigged with a 1/16oz white jig head w/red eye, and a smokey shad grub.  I caught a nice black crappie on a Watermelon Zoom Super Fluke (never heard of that!), and a White Sucker (looks like a carp to me) on my micro rig with a beetle spin. Here's a few pics from the evening...

Fishing on 231, 2/3/19

Debbie and I have been shut in for weeks with this darned bug, and were going stir-crazy. Finally got out for a little while today, and hit a couple of spots. We ran up to fish on Little River @ hwy 231, and caught these pinkish colored bluegills...

231, 1-6-19

Debbie and I decided to go fishing at a few different spots today, after church. First, we headed up to Little River at the hwy 231 bridge. We caught a few Black Crappie and some bluegill at that location. The river was up quite a lot from the last time we went. Here's a few pics from that stop...

231, 1-3-19

After a bit of fishing at Murdocks, we decided to run back to Little River at Hwy 232, and see if the crappie were still there... They were! We caught a few bluegill, and Debbie caught a few more pretty crappie before dark set in on us. Another fun afternoon on NC freshwater!